


Exile into an Endless Sea of Trees

by FandomFluid



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Found Family, Gen, Indrid centric, M/M, Mothman, Origin Story, Original side characters, Pre-Canon, Sylvan politics
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-22
Updated: 2020-06-22
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:46:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24859369
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FandomFluid/pseuds/FandomFluid
Summary: Some Sylphs claimed 'exile' was just a nice word that was used when the speaker really meant 'execution'. Either way, the exiled never made their way back home to tell the tale.After the past 24 hours, the archway looked more like the mouth of a snake, poised to swallow Indrid whole.He wasn't sure what he was expecting to see on the other side, but it certainly wasn't the forests of West Virginia
Kudos: 5





	Exile into an Endless Sea of Trees

Indrid was having trouble focusing. The man beneath him was saying something, he was pretty sure, but it all sounded like monotonous droning, punctuated every so often by a warm kiss pressed to his neck. 

Outside the window, Sylvain seemed to move around them. His glasses were slipping down his nose. 

“Indrid? Are you listening to me?” The man underneath him asked. 

Indrid blinked and looked down at him, pulling one hand from where it rested around the man’s shoulders to push his glasses back into place. 

“Of course I am,” he replied after a moment. 

“No, you’re not.”

“Well, you make it rather difficult to focus, Lawrence. You know that.” 

Lawrence smiled and let his hands trail to Indrid’s hips as he held the seer on his lap. “I know. I wasn’t really saying much important anyways.” 

Indrid smiled and hummed as he relaxed in Lawrence’s arms. He stayed there for a few moments before his eyes snapped open suddenly. 

In only a moment, it felt like a great mass of air had rushed into his head through his ears. No matter how many times it had happened before, he could never seem to get used to the odd sensation. The winds seemed to overtake him and started to play a scene behind his eyes where only he could see it. 

“Indrid? Are you having a vision?” Lawrence asked before Indrid’s head lolled back on his shoulders. 

He stared unblinking at the ceiling, all sound muffled as the vision seemed to consume him. 

There was some sort of commotion. People were running around, panicked and confused while the Royal Chancellor sat at the head of the royal dining table. She was clawing at her own throat while her face went redder and redder. Her eyes were bulging from her head and she wasn’t responding to any of the court around her or the servants as they desperately tried to help. Then, she stopped breathing and went limp in her chair. Her consort next to her screamed and grabbed her shoulders to shake her, completely in vain. 

Indrid inhaled sharply as the bedroom appeared around him again and the current world shifted back into view. 

“Indrid? What was it? What did you see?” Lawrence asked. 

Indrid scrambled off of the man’s lap and started a mad search for paper, ink, and a pen.

“The Royal Chancellor is in trouble. She will die tonight if nothing’s done.” He said hastily as he started the frantic sketch of the Chancellor asphyxiating in her seat at the dinner table. “She will suffocate on something at the dining table tonight.”

“The benefactors' banquet.” Lawrence thought aloud, getting up to look down at the sketch Indrid had completed. 

“I need to get this down to her right away. Perhaps if the banquet can be rescheduled, she’ll live.” Indrid said as he started the lengthy process of lacing up the front of his shirt once again. 

“Well, wait. She’s probably extremely busy and stressed right now as it is. You’re talking to the commander of the royal guard, you know.” Lawrence said, helping Indrid lace the back of his doublet to get him fully clothed once again, just in case. “Here’s what we’ll do. You tell me everything you saw. Then I’ll go down and make sure there’s plenty of security for tonight and be on the lookout for whatever will kill her. Alright?” 

Indrid nodded and took a deep breath to steady himself. “Alright. You’re right, we can handle it. There’s no reason to make a big scene, you and I can handle things and keep everything under control.” 

“Exactly. Besides, you’re the court seer. If anything were to change, you’d be the one to know about it first.” Lawrence hummed, finishing lacing up Indrid’s doublet for him and combing his fingers through his messy white hair. 

Indrid nodded, still working on calming down. Of course, Lawrence was right. Lawrence was the head of the royal guard and had the power of the Sylvan military behind him. The Chancellor was in good hands and the banquet would go smoothly. 

When it was time for them both to get back to work, they kissed each other goodbye and went their separate ways. 

Indrid found his way to the Chancellor’s office and made sure his hair was pushed back from his face. He paused outside the door, wondering if telling her about the vision might cause too much trouble. Though, the woman had the right to know her life could be in danger. 

So, he swallowed and rapped on the door. 

“Come in.” A voice called from inside the room. 

Indrid let himself inside, only to find the Chancellor and her consort being fitted in their gowns for the evening. He quickly put a hand over his glasses and averted his eyes. 

“Seer Cold.” The consort cooed with a warm smile. “We’re decent, you know. You don’t need to be so shy.” 

“Lagertha, don’t pick on the man.” The Chancellor chided with a happy smile as she was laced into her dress. “Seer Cold, to what do I owe the pleasure? Have you seen anything regarding children yet?” 

Indrid pulled his hand away as he looked between the pair of women. Their desire for a child had been a recent development, and they’d started to grow eager for any news of any future regarding children they might have together. It made him feel rather bad to only have a vision of the Chancellor’s assassination to report. 

“No, Madam, not yet. I’ve seen something much more imminent, though.” Indrid replied. “Tonight at the benefactors' banquet, you will die. You will be poisoned and asphyxiate in your chair if nothing is done to stop it. However, I’ve already told the commander of your guard, and he’s going to make sure there’s plenty of security. You should have nothing to worry about.” 

The Chancellor nodded wordlessly while her consort frowned. 

“I don’t trust that commander. He always seemed a little too eager to get power.” She said. 

“With all due respect, Madam, Lawr- the Commander worked very hard to get to where he is now. And our Chancellor wouldn’t give anyone a title if they didn’t deserve it.” Indrid said. 

“Commander Lawrence has this all under control, then?” The Chancellor asked.

“Yes, Madam.” Indrid nodded. 

“Then, I’ll trust him. Let me know if you get another vision, Seer Cold. About anything.” She hummed. 

“Yes, Madam, I will,” Indrid said with a low bow. 

From there, he returned to his chambers to sit by his ink and paper and wait for any more potential visions to arrive and show him alternate futures that might arrive. There were a few more hopeful routes that appeared throughout the day where the banquet went without a hitch. 

He got another premonition just as he was about to start heading down to join the rest of the court for the banquet. His head lolled back on his shoulders where he stood by his cluttered desk. 

The vision seemed connected somehow but didn’t take place in the dining hall. Instead, he saw the royal audience hall, all the members of the court gathered around the walls of the room. He was in the center, standing taller than usual while a pair of guards held either end of the chains that wrapped around him, binding his limbs and wings down. One of the guards held his glasses on the collar of his shirt. Instead of the Chancellor sitting on the throne, it was Lawrence. He wasn’t smiling at his lover. Instead, he seemed to be looking down his nose at him. 

Indrid blinked back to reality all at once and moved to quickly sketch out the new, odd scene. He jotted down the day and time it was supposed to occur, then glanced at that day’s other sketches. The new one was set to happen the next morning. 

He stood back, bringing the end of his pen to his lips as he stared at the sketches. First, the Chancellor would die, most likely from some sort of poison. Then, Lawrence would be sitting on her throne and he would be held captive. But, why? 

Other voices filled the hallway as other members of the royal court started to head down to the banquet. Indrid wondered how much time he had. Probably not a lot. He started chewing at the end of the pen, his eyes darting across the papers as he tried to piece together a puzzle he was missing pieces for. 

His eyes went wide behind his glasses and he paused. It didn’t make any sense, but it was his only explanation. Lawrence would poison the Chancellor in an attempt to stage a coup d’etat and it would work. Indrid would do something that would put him in hot water with his lover, that could end in his execution or exile from Sylvain altogether. He didn’t know what he could do to anger the man who’d been kissing him as if their lives depended on it some hours earlier. But, no matter what, he had to tell the Chancellor. He didn’t have a lot of time to warn her. The sooner they were prepared for her food to be poisoned, the more likely she was to live. He’d deal with whatever this meant for his relationship with Lawrence later. 

He fixed his glasses on his face before rushing out of the room and almost barreling into a duke in the hallway. 

“Excuse me,” he said hurriedly before practically starting to sprint to find the Chancellor’s personal guard team. He had to weave through bodies and the closer he got to the dining hall and reception area, the harder it got to move. 

Sylphs in their newest, best clothes gathered close together, talking and laughing, no one worried about a thing. When he finally found the Chancellor, she was standing with her consort, talking happily while flanked by her guards. 

“Madam,” he said, panting as he bowed to her and her consort. “May I steal you for a moment. I’m afraid it’s quite urgent.” 

The Chancellor looked a little annoyed but nodded and turned to the pair of dignitaries she’d been talking to. 

“We’ll catch up later,” she promised them before turning to Indrid. “Seer Cold. Have you seen anything more?” 

“Yes, Madam. Your food is going to be poisoned in a military coup tonight, lead by the Commander.” Indrid said. The guards glanced at each other, then back at him. 

The Chancellor frowned at that and nodded. She then turned to one of the guards. 

“Tell the taste-tester to be on his guard tonight. Make sure no one who isn’t supposed to be in the kitchens isn’t.” She ordered before turning back to Indrid. “You’re absolutely sure the Commander is in charge of this plot?” 

“Yes, Madam.” Indrid nodded. 

The Chancellor nodded again and turned back to another guard. “You keep an eye on the commander. Make sure he doesn’t act out of line at all. Seer Cold, I want you sitting next to me tonight, just in case you see something more.” 

“Understood, Madam,” Indrid said, glancing around the room to see if he could spot Lawrence. He didn’t have any luck. 

As they all filed into the dining hall, Indrid could feel his heart pounding hard in his chest. He sat down next to the Chancellor and watched her and her consort chatting with the other people beside them as if nothing was wrong. As they all got their glasses of wine, the Chancellor stood up, effectively silencing the room. 

“First of all, I want to thank you all for being here tonight. I’ll keep this brief because everyone’s so hungry, but we in this room hold the weight of Sylvain and her people on our shoulders. It’s a difficult burden, yes, but a necessary one. If I may say so myself, I think we carry her wonderfully. Here’s to another year of peace, prosperity, and harmony for our people.” She said, holding her glass up and forward. Everyone around the table followed suit to return the toast before sipping from their glasses and settling in as the first course was served. 

“Have you seen anything more?” The Chancellor whispered for Indrid as the boils of soup were set in front of them. 

“No, Madam. You would know if I had.” Indrid replied with a frown. 

The Chancellor nodded, looking gravely down into her soup. The liquid could either be poisoned or not and she had no idea how likely one outcome was over the other. Indrid has seen her being poisoned and dying, but they’d dispatched the security necessary to deal with it. So, she really had no choice but to treat this bowl of soup like every other bowl of soup she’d eaten in her life. 

Indrid’s leg was bouncing as he watched and waited. No one could start eating until the Chancellor did, anyways. His heart was still pounding in his chest as he watched her raise the spoon to her lips. 

If the soup was poisoned, the effect wasn’t immediate. Nothing happened with the first spoonful, or the second or third. Still, Indrid couldn’t find the willpower to pretend he had an appetite. All he could do was watch the Chancellor, just waiting until something looked familiar. 

As the Chancellor ate, he waited, glancing around the table every so often. No one seemed to notice a thing. 

He caught sight of Lawrence standing by the wall. It gave him a bit of a start when he looked up and immediately made eye contact with his lover. Lawrence just smiled softly and looked away, over to the Chancellor. 

There was a chance he was waiting, in the hopes that nothing would happen, just like Indrid. He wanted to believe that was the case. Lawrence didn’t seem like the type of man to kill someone in his quest for power. 

Then the Chancellor coughed. She excused herself and took a sip of her wine to clear her throat. Then she started to cough again, this time without any sign of stopping. 

“Madam?” Indrid asked, watching the woman’s face grow red as she coughed and coughed. 

“Is she choking?” One of the guests next to him asked with wide eyes. 

“Someone get a medic!” Another shouted. 

Meanwhile, the Chancellor kept coughing. Indrid felt like he ought to do something, but he had no idea what to do. She coughed and coughed and her face just got brighter red. The rest of the guests were either looking on in fear or rushing around in an effort to help. 

The Chancellor’s coughs turned to gasps as her hands went to her neck in an effort to signal her closing throat and airways. 

Indrid had no idea what to do. Her eyes were locked on his while her consort grabbed and shook her shoulders. 

“Andromeda? Andromeda, please, breathe!” She cried, tears streaking down her made-up face, leaving streaks of the colors that had once been around her eyes. “Seer Cold! Please, help me. She can’t die!” 

Indrid couldn’t look away as the Chancellor stopped breathing, her eyes slipped shut, and her body went limp against the table. 

“She’s gone,” he said softly, standing up from the table. 

If the room had been chaotic before, everything turned to complete and absolute pandemonium at the sight of the unconscious and unresponsive Chancellor on the wooden table. The medics came in time to quickly take the body away in the hopes that there was anything they could do. 

Indrid watched in horror as the room quieted down as the gravity of reality seemed to sink into the entire court. He looked around for Lawrence and found him still at his post against a wall. He was about to get up to go to him as he stepped forward and clapped his hands together. 

“Ladies, gentlemen, and self-defined, please remain calm. This palace is under complete lockdown until we get some sort of clarity on this situation, which should come soon. Until then, please find your ways back to your rooms in a calm and orderly manner.” Lawrence directed, keeping his head high. 

Indrid watched as the court members around the table started to file out of the room. He pushed the opposite way to find his way to Lawrence. 

“Indrid, you should go to your room, too,” Lawrence said. “I’d say I won’t be too long until I join you, but it might be best not to wait up tonight. They’ll need me down here a while.” 

He leaned down to kiss him, but Indrid pulled backward with a frown, still staring up at him. 

“Baby, come on,” Lawrence said with a small laugh.

“You did this. She’s dead, Lawrence, and you’re the one who poisoned her.” Indrid hissed. “You’re a traitor, you’re a murderer. How could you? Why would you?” 

“Keep your voice down.” Lawrence frowned.

“You killed the Chancellor!” Indrid shot back, purposefully raising his voice. 

Lawrence frowned hard at that and raised a hand in the air, poised for a moment to backhand the seer across the face. He hesitated, then sighed and lowered his hand to wave forward another soldier. 

“Take the seer to the prisons for the night.” He ordered. 

“Sir?” The soldier asked, looking the gangly man up and down. 

“You son of a bitch, you had this planned for a while now, didn’t you?” Indrid snapped. 

“The prisons, now, Private,” Lawrence ordered the soldier. 

“How long? How long were you stringing me along for nothing? You never would have been made Commander if I hadn’t advised it. How long were you using me?” Indrid demanded as the soldier grabbed his arms and wrenched them behind his back before securing his wrists in a set of heavy metal cuffs.

“When you get down there, chain him up completely and take his glasses. He knows too much as it is and he’s not the kind of guy who’ll just shut up, no matter what we offer him.” Lawrence advised. 

Indrid was seething as he was led out of the room and through the palace, down one level, then another and another. That morning he’d been the court seer. Now he was a prisoner in the most secure area of the palace prisons. 

He was pushed back into the cell before the soldier slipped the glasses off his face. In almost an instant, the cuffs around his wrists slipped free and his clothing tore and fell off at the seams as his body grew in size and shape. A prison warden came forward with a glowing hand that made the world go black as soon as it touched him.

When Indrid woke again, it was to the feeling of a bucket of water being thrown on him. He woke with a start, wrapped tightly in chains, and lying prone on the hard stone floor. It took a full team of soldiers and prison wardens to pull him to his feet. He was grabbed by a host of hands and guided along through the halls as they tried to navigate his huge and imposing form around the corners and up into the palace proper. 

The audience hall was filled with other members of the court, who stood around the outer edge. Lawrence was in the Chancellor’s seat, sitting with one leg crossed over the other. 

“Court Seer, Indrid Cold.” An announcer said as he was led into the center of the room, soldiers holding the chains that bound him on either side. “Convicted of treachery to Sylvain.” 

Indrid looked over at the announcer in confusion, then back at Lawrence, who held his head high and seemed to somehow look down on a man who currently stood multiple feet taller than him. 

Lawrence held his gaze before standing up and walking up to him, craning his head to look into his large red eyes. 

“Exile.” Lawrence finally said. “Permanent exile from Sylvain, effective immediately.”

Indrid was having a hard time wrapping his mind around everything as it happened. He was being exiled, but where to? Outside the main city was nothingness. No one really knew where the people who got exiled wound up. 

Some people said there was a gate on the outermost edge of Sylvain, and once you stepped through, you disappeared from sight. Some others said ‘exile’ was just a nice word they said instead of ‘execution’. But there was no clear answer one way or the other. 

All Indrid knew for sure was that he was being pushed through and out of the palace by the guards. They all but shoved him into a transport wagon, then flanked him on either side again. 

The ride to the outer limits of the city was fast and impossibly bumpy. When they stopped and he was yanked out, Indrid was almost positive he was going to be quietly executed right then and there, in that large, circular pavilion. Then, he noticed the stone archway that sat quietly, like a wide-open mouth ready to eat him whole. 

The guards guided him up to stand in front of it before they unbound him. One guard tossed his glasses through the archway and Indrid watched in awe as they disappeared from sight as if slipping out of reality completely the moment they passed under the gate. 

He didn’t get the chance to ponder it much longer before he was grabbed by multiple pairs of hands and shoved through the gate as well. 


End file.
